A badge costs how much!!?? I had no idea that a person would spend that much money on one ticket. And what exactly is SXSW (and is it acceptable to write it out as South by Southwest)?

In my own words: SXSW is a combo conference and festival that is a two-week long party with music, comedy, film premiers, several big exhibits, speakers, interactive media, panels, networking get-togethers, and straight-up parties with free alcohol and food.

Door/walk up price for the top-tier badge (platinum) was $2095 but if you get your badge for next year it is on sale now for $1365 (limited presale). There are several tiers of badges/tickets. It’s all a bit chaotic and there’s so much going on. As a volunteer, I was granted a film/tv, music, or interactive badge for my 44 hours of volunteering during the festival (minimum requirements are 40 for this second tier badge or 56 for the platinum badge and an additional 6 for an EDU badge add-on). It gets confusing fast when you’re new. There is also the option to just get an EDU badge with 24 hours of volunteering if you can’t commit to the 40+ but you won’t get as much access with an EDU badge.

I love volunteering and volunteering for SXSW 2023 was no exception. This year I chose the Exhibitions Crew (you choose a crew and stick with that crew for the duration of your volunteer hours). I was wavering between Catering, Exhibitions, and Sessions but due to my own time constraints, I went with the Exhibitions Crew. Sign up early to get the crew and the shifts that you want! I went to the volunteer call on the second day and there were already shifts that were unavailable by then (1/22).

Pros to volunteering with Exhibitions: you can front stack your volunteer hours since they operate during the first weekend before EDU starts. The hours were not earlier than 7:30AM and not later than 9PM. If you want a calmer experience you can opt for “load in” days and handle the setup for the festival instead of interacting with the SXSW people. Exhibition shifts were all indoors in the mostly climate-controlled convention center or Fairmont hotel next door. Our crew leaders and managers were awesome to work with and the other volunteers were enthusiastic and interesting people to be around. It was all-around a calm environment where I got to hear so many fun SXSW stories from past years and get the scoop on how to make the most of my time. I loved getting an hour for breaks so I could get a feel for downtown during the festival and have enough time to eat and socialize.

Cons to volunteering: public transit is not ideal for volunteer hours and shift start/end times. The metro train runs every 40 minutes and the local bus transfer I had to take was not consistent or reliable. You are not supposed to use your badge perks on the same days that you volunteer. With the amount of hours required to get your badge, it’s difficult to find the time to use your badge and your perks, especially if you don’t live downtown or won’t commit to hanging out downtown on your off-volunteer days (ie have day job).

From the many people I talked to while volunteering, in lines waiting to get into venues, and walking around the festival, I got the sense that it was a busy year. Many people expressed disappointment that they couldn’t get into movies, parties, lounges, events, sessions/panels, etc. Rooms reached capacity as soon as they let people in and to me, it seemed like the downtown area was full of street chaos. If I had paid for my badge, I would have been disappointed at how difficult it was to get into events, especially hot events like the Civil War premier, The Fall Guy premier, any party/event with free alcohol and/or food, and speakers like Meghan Markle, Kirsten Dunst, Selena Gomez, Elijah Wood, Seth Green, Dylan Mulvaney, Jay Shetty, Justice, The Black Keys, Mike Judge, Judd Apatow, Ashley Judd, Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda and Janelle Monae. With possible red carpet appearances by Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Riley Keogh, Ryan Gosling, Dev Patel, Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei, Jon Bon Jovi, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Mark Wahlberg, LeBron James and Travis Kelce.

I spent over an hour in line with my ‘free’ yet still standby line ticket for the Industry party but had to bail because my local bus wasn’t running past a certain hour even though the metro train had expanded hours. I made several buddies in that line and watched as one dared another to sneak in the back door. I later saw one of those line buddies as I was monitoring the door to the Creative Industries Expo (CIE) later that week and said hi.

Some people experience SXSW luck – not just when preparation meets opportunity but when you are around the right place and make friends with the right people. Someone happened to bump into Anne Hathaway in the bathroom while we were waiting for the premiere of The Idea of You to start. I saw one of my neighbors while volunteering. One of the volunteers got a wristband to get into Trevor Noah’s live podcast event by walking up to the right person at the right time. By keeping my eyes and ears peeled I was able to score free C4, free Prime, free Red Bull, free Siete chips, and a free Voodoo Doughnut. I was a little late to RSVP to events that required advance tickets but if I’d been more on the ball I could have gotten access to even more free nibbles and drinks. As it was, even with my $1300 badge, I was stuck in standby-esque lines anytime I wanted to try going to an event with something free in it.

A short list of what I was able to experience at SXSW 2024:

• Creative Industries Expo including Battle Bots
• Registrant Lounge with free samples and 5* bathrooms
• Equality Lounge with free drinks (not high in alcohol content but delicious) and appetizers
• Funk Factory event by Pourri with lots of easy-to-grab Poo-Pourri travel-sized packs
• Health & Medtech Happy Hour with an ‘open bar’ and appetizers (after waiting in line for 40 minutes)
• A tour of the XR expo and EDU expo before they opened to the public during load in
• Film premiere of The Idea of You (in the last 10 rows of the theatre after waiting in line for 2 hours)

I would volunteer again but would probably choose a Film and TV badge. I would RSVP and get tickets well in advance of the festival so I could go to some of the networking/parties and actually get into those events. I would try to make time to come to SXSW as a participant on a weekday and not just on the weekend. I would try to catch at least one music performance. I would try out the shuttle and check out other venues. I would carpool with other volunteers, if possible, to cut down transit time from 90 minutes to the 18-25 it takes to get from my house to downtown.

I would never pay for a badge – the value just isn’t there unless you are press or have good connections. A badge doesn’t grant you front-of-line status, it’s just another way to access SXSW events. Even Platinum badge holders have to wait in lines and won’t always get into events, sessions, and films. Just like going to Disney, going to SXSW is outside the reality of normal value per use. You won’t always get what you want but if you are strategic about what you are willing to spend time in line for, you can get into some buzzy events and be the cool kid. Then again, in a venue of 1300 people, if they all laugh at a joke the sound is deafening enough to drown out the next line of dialogue in a movie so I think I’ll have to watch that movie again when it comes out in May.